1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of completely portable and readily deployable and removable, yet conveniently simple, lighting attachments to land or marine recreational vehicles (RVs), enabling relatively uniform wide-area low-intensity illumination and removable attachment anywhere, specifically including the utility beam of typical RV awning fixtures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The recreational vehicle (RV) industry has witnessed incredible growth throughout the world and, because of many factors including the increasingly large numbers of retired persons, faces the prospect of ever-increasing business. The intent of such vehicles is to enable the consumer to travel freely with as many comforts of a stationary home as possible.
By their very nature, RVs are frequently parked or moored in either a remote area or a location where access to permanently fixed lighting systems is not conveniently available. To fully enjoy the evenings while "camping" in this way, some type of portable illumination is required.
Thus there has been an increasing but unmet need for a portable, storable, inexpensive, conveniently deployable, wide-area illumination system specifically adapted to the convenience of RV users.
Until now, this need has not been met.
In the past all that has been available, toward meeting the stated need, typically consisted of or two small lamps affixed in some manner to the so-called "utility beam" of typical awning attachments to RVs, which provides at most spot-illumination or illumination of a few adjacent spots. However, no simple, conveniently deployable, removably attachable lighting systems suitable for uniform wide-area illumination (such as the patio-like area under an awning) are known to this inventor.
Strictly speaking, then, there is no prior art in the sui generis field created by the present invention.
Granted, it would be an obvious improvement of the presently available lighting fixtures in this context to simply replace the one or two bulbs or lamps or lighting elements now hung from the utility beam by a larger number of lighting elements, thus extending the illuminated area to a larger and more uniformly lighted area adjacent the RV. But nothing in the most closely related prior art suggests combining the presently disclosed structural elements and mode of combination of such known elements into the complete and conveniently useful, removably attachable, readily deployable, inexpensively made, portable apparatus disclosed herein.
A diligent search discloses only somewhat-related or somewhat pertinent inventions, including the following.
One such prior art discloses an illuminated metallic awning, with illuminating means intended for permanent attachment. "Metallic" means, however, in no way suggests the use of flexible materials such as the present invention, and there is no suggestion of application to a movable vehicle instead of a permanent building, much less to a readily deployable, completely portable system such as presently disclosed.
Other prior art suggests a permanently fixed, spotlight-like, bus side light stem mounted on top of a bus, which provides non-uniform illumination of a limited area adjacent a vehicle. Admittedly it would be obvious to adapt this from a bus to an RV, but there is no suggestion that would lead to the readily deployable, removably insertable, uniformly wide-area illuminating, low-intensity, completely portable apparatus disclosed in the present invention.